Doctor Who - The Three Doctors

As much as I like The Three Doctors as a TV story (as anniversary stories go) it was let down by some indifferent production work. The novel on the other hand know no such boundaries. The great thing about prose is you can let your imagination run riot. And that was the wonderful thing about reading this book.

Dreams of Empire

On a barren asteroid, the once-mighty Haddron Empire is on the brink of collapse, torn apart by civil war. The one man who might have saved it languishes
 in prison, his enemies planning his death and his friends plotting his escape. The Second Doctor arrives as the last act of this deadly drama is being played out – and with both terrifying killers and cunning traitors to defeat, the future hangs in the balance.

Justin Richards' love for the Troughton era shines through because the characterisation of the Second Doctor is spot on. It's been said that a lot of the success of the Second Doctor is down to Patrick Troughton's performance making him the hardest Doctor to capture in print. But Richards pulls it off. And his characterisation of Jamie and Victoria are spot on too.

Again I read this book was it was first published in 1998. I don't remember by reaction at the time (other than thinking the title was intriguing), but on reading it again was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It did sag a little in parts, but felt true to it's era and was enjoyable.

Inferno

         
  "Listen to that! It's the sound of the planet screaming out its rage!"

Inferno is without doubt the best (or equal best with Spearhead from Space) story of the Pertwee era. Everything about it is perfect and works well (I can even live with the Primoids. And Benton's transformation into one in episode six is horrifying). One thing that struck me watching this was how well Douglas Camfield cast his productions; every actor is perfect for their roles. The other thing was that at seven episode the story doesn't drag at all (not something you could say of other stories of this era). If you wanted a story to introduce someone to Doctor Who for the first time you couldn't do worse than show them Inferno.

Out of the extras on this DVD the one that stands out is The Doctor Forever: Lost in the Dark Dimension which chronicles what happened to Doctor Who after it was taken off air in 1989. I cheered when Gary Russell said that some of the attempts by fandom to get the BBC to bring the show back in the early nineties (including attempting to launch legal action against the corporation - I kid you not! It's what caused me to turn my back on fandom) was just plain bonkers and did no one any good at all (so it wasn't just me that thought that after all). And then there's David Burton (who I'd forgotten about) and his claims to have been cast at the Doctor in the early nineties. I think this is the first time this gentleman has spoken on the record about his "time" and his statements that no footage exists of the episode he shot existing makes his claims to be somewhat dubious. But nice to have on the record anyway. Oh, and the fact the everyone at Gary Russell's 40th birthday party was trying to keep the news that Doctor Who was coming back from him is quiet funny too.

Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks

For the next few novelizations that have been republished as ebooks we're on a Terrance Dicks roll. The wonderful thing about a Terrance Dicks book is you know what you're going to get; a well written book authored by someone who knows Doctor Who.

Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters

I'll start off by saying that I think the serial this book is based on - Doctor Who and the Silurians - is one of the best of the Pertwee era. This novelisation however is one of the worst I've ever read. I'd heard good things about Malcolm Hulke's work, about how he fleshed out his characters and told the story from multiple viewpoints. While this is true, I found his writing style to be stilted and it left me unimpressed. It's easily one of the worst Doctor Who novel I've ever read.

All Good Things...

Okay, I wasn't expecting to hear this when I woke up this morning.

If you haven't already heard the news broke this morning that Matt Smith will leave Doctor Who in this years Christmas special.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, run."\ From that moment on I knew I was going to love this incarnation. For me Matt is up there with Tom Baker, Patrick Troughton and David Tennant (in other words, the best).

Thanks for everything Matt and all the best for the future (and we'll see you for the 60th anniversary special?).

In the meantime (to quote the Brigadier), here we go again...

Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion

"Here at UNIT we deal with the odd-the unexplained. We're prepared to tackle anything on Earth. Or even from beyond the Earth, if necessary."

Put on trial by the Time Lords, and found guilty of interfering in the affairs of other worlds, the Doctor is exiled to Earth in the 20th century, his appearance once again changed. His arrival coincides with a meteorite shower. But these are no ordinary meteorites.

The Nestene Consciousness has began its first attempt to invade Earth using killer Autons and Deadly window shop dummies. Only the Doctor and UNIT can stop the attack. But the Doctor is recovering in hospital, and his old friend the Brigadier doesn't even recognise him. Can the Doctor recover and win UNIT's trust before the invasion begins?

(yes, I know it's not the exact cover for the ebook edition. But it's as close as I could get)

Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion (better known as the TV story Spearhead from Space) is a special book to me. It's one of the first Doctor Who books I ever brought (along with Warriors of the Deep. Yep, you can't get two more different stories can you?) aside from being the novelisation of what (in my opinion) is the best Pertwee story (it was also the first novelisation written by Terrance Dicks and also the first one published by W.H. Allen/Target Books when they took over the range). In typical Dicks' fashion it's a faithful retelling of the story, with a few embellishments. Maybe not as good as I remember it, but still good.